the blurbs on this cover alone validate listen for the lie as one to watch & i’m pleased to say y’all won’t be disappointed. about a young girl accused of murdering her best friend after being unable to defend herself because she doesn’t remember a single thing from that night, this was one of those thrillers that successfully assigned guilt to a variety of different potential murderers in a seamless and authentic way. typically, i get annoyed when there’s too much of anything in a thriller (sometimes too many bodies, this time too many affairs) however in this instance, the surplus of infidelity added to the small town texas charm where this novel was based.

This book kept me guessing the entire time! I loved how the author used a podcast style within the book. Podcasts are very popular these days so it was neat to see that incorporated into the story line. A nice, fast, easy ready to get you out of a reading slump! Definitely recommend!

Lucy Chase has no recollection of what happened the night her best friend, Savvy, was killed. She suffered a head injury, but was seen covered in Savvy's blood. However, due to lack of evidence, she was not charged with Savvy's murder. Now, Ben Owens, host of Listen for the Lie, is featuring Savvy's murder and the question of Lucy's innocence in season 2 of his podcast. The small town of Plumpton, TX is her hometown, but she left 5 years ago for Los Angeles. Lucy never wanted to return, but her grandmother begged Lucy to come to her birthday party. Her grandmother never doubted Lucy, but the town did. Through interviews with various townspeople and Lucy's ex-husband, the truth about that night unfolds.
This kept me interested throughout and I read it in one sitting! Entertaining and sarcastic - a great thriller!

LISTEN FOR THE LIE is a fabulously entertaining and darkly witty murder mystery. Tintera effortlessly brings together unique characters, a cold case, and a true crime podcast investigation that makes this book downright addictive.

From the beginning to the end, I loved this book. Lucy is an overtly candid character with one major gap in her memory. Unfortunately, it surrounds the murder of her best friend and has a town convinced she is the killer. This alone would make for a compelling read, but then the cherry on top is the “Listen for the Lie” true crime podcast’s examination of the death. Flipping back and forth between Lucy and the podcast allows the reader to get a larger scope of what people involved think as Ben, the host, delves into all aspects of this case.

Tintera has the ability to lead the reader down the path to the truth as the reveals and revelations come to light. As a bonus, she added wonderfully juicy tidbits about the players surrounding this mystery. This smartly constructed thriller is filled with hidden secrets, strong emotions, and at times, gallows humor. I loved it all!

Audiobook Note: Narrators January LaVoy and Will Damron bring to life this book. Though I only spent about half the time listening to this story, it benefited from having the two distinct voices present for the narration. The pace was right on point as the listener gets further involved in the investigation and invested in the outcome.

It has been years since Lucy was found walking down the street covered in her best friend’s blood with no memory of what happened. She has relocated to LA and started a new life when she is asked to return home. While there she runs into Ben Owens, the host of a popular true crime podcast who is trying to solve Savvy’s murder. Can Ben help Lucy unlock her memories of what really happened to Savvy and finally bring the killer to justice? This was a well done mystery that kept me wanting to read one more chapter. Even though I figured out who it was about half way through, I still enjoyed seeing how the author brought it all together. I have a feeling this would be great on audio with the podcast segments interspersed throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for my early reader copy!

I loved this read. It kept me entertained and guessing throughout the entire book. I couldn’t put it down, and finished it in three days.

This is a thriller of the century. It has the twists you'd hope for but also the plot development you'd never expect. It is living up to the hype for a reason. This one will be on many best of 2024 lists.

4.5 stars. It's been 5 years since Lucy was accused, but never charged, for the murder of her best friend Savvy. She doesn't remember what happened that night but no one believes her. She is called back to her hometown for her grandmother's birthday, which is just a ruse to get her to participate in a podcast investigating the murder. Told in a mixture of flashbacks, podcast transcripts, and present day interactions, the story follows Lucy on her journey to remember that night. I flew through this book and really enjoyed it.

This book was so much fun! I was glued to the pages and finished it in only a couple of sittings. There were so many twists and turns and I had no idea how it was going to end.

Compelling and clever. This book is witty but mysterious and with the short chapters, it’s easy to read quickly. Some parts felt a little redundant but overall a good book. I’d definitely recommend.

5 glorious stars! This book was my first 5 star thriller of 2024. The audiobook was perfection, he podcast element was done well. The pacing of how the mystery unfolded was impressive. This one will stick with me for a long while. I was very connected to Lucy and Sav. Loved their friendship! The grandmother was another stand out character for me. The unfolding of the plot was so well thought out. Very impressive. Highly recommend this one! Such an enjoyable reading experience. I can't wait to pick up more by Amy Tintera!

I loved this book, I loved the tongue in cheek humorous banter between Lucy, a suspected murderer suffering from memory loss after the violent death of her besty, Savvy, and Ben, a true crime investigative podcaster.

The notorious Lucy left small time Texas for L.A. where she enjoyed anonymity until “outed” by Ben in his latest, Listen for the Lie, podcast series, in which he intends to prove (or disprove) Lucy’s role in the murder. Lucy soon finds herself out of a job and out of her current relationship as a result. She is once again, a pariah in the community. So, why not accept her beloved quirky grandmother (QG)’s invitation to return home for the latter’s 80th birthday bash? As it turns out QG’s birthday bash is a ruse to get Lucy back to her home-town so that she can face her demons and be interviewed by Ben – something she had successfully avoided until then.

Of course, there is much delectable gossip to be gleaned from the podcast interviews, not to mention hot sex and abandoned professional ethics.

I can’t say that I didn’t guess early on who murdered Savvy (Lucy or other character), but the path leading up to the discovery was entertaining.

I found the understated male violence and manipulative domestic abuse in the novel, disturbing. I believed this not to be the main thrust of the book but rather served to cast suspicion on some of the characters. With the exception of Savvy, many of the characters, if not complicit, were complacent in their knowledge of what was going on. Some had even experienced the same abuse by the same characters in the past, yet seemed to take the abuse of themselves and others in their stride. A claustrophobic small town atmosphere prevailed and a seemingly incestuous pool of relationships between the characters, with most of the characters having remained or returned home after school/work related absences.

Altogether, this was a very entertaining read. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books/Macmillan for an ARC of the novel in exchange for my honest review. I Loved It. This is apparently the author’s first novel for adult audiences. I will be looking for some of her earlier YA novels, because I loved her writing style and characters. By the time I had the opportunity to read this book, it had published so I not only enjoyed the printed version but also the audio, switching between the two. The audio narration was excellent as well as the printed version.

What an absolutely fantastic thriller, with all the humor and amazing characters! I love me a good podcast thriller book, but so many try so so hard and it feels too forced. But this one, ahhh it was perfection. I found myself laughing, staring into oblivion wondering, and just straight up loving everything.

thank you to netgalley for a free arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!
first off, i love the title of this book! second, i enjoyed this! twisty, surprisingly funny, fast paced this was a fun read. i loved the interview/podcast format and since everyone is super into true crime and murder docs/podcasts this book is hitting at the perfect time

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read Listen for the Lie. This was a big miss for me. I liked the beginning and the idea of the unreliable narrator Lucy finding out who killed Savvy, but about the half way mark I was over it. The only character that I loved was the grandmother.

I loved this mystery murder of two friends, Lucy and Savannah (aka. Savvy). Savvy's "life" is short lived in the book since she's murdered and Lucy is the main suspect. Five years have gone by, and Lucy is still trying to figure out whether or not she killed her good friend because she can't remember. And the only one who doesn't think she murdered Savvy is her grandmother, Beverly.

Alternating chapters between <i>Lucy</i> and a podcast with numerous interviews of people that knew either Savvy, Lucy, or both, kept me guessing all along. I didn't know whodunit until the end, and I loved that. There were twists along the way and various characters' interviews that got my wheels turning, wondering if they might have done it. But in the end I didn't guess it. I thought this one was well worth the read!

Incredibly compelling book! Once I got started I found it hard to put down. This is a read that Lives up to the hype

this book was an interesting one. It was told party by podcast and then present day. Although I love this author, I did feel like it didn’t hit the fast pace until the end. It was a good story, but one that took me a bit to read. Will I recommend? Yes, however I was excepting a faster paced read

We are so back! I needed a real deal one-sitting thriller so badly, and this one totally delivered. This follows Lucy, a woman pulled back into her hometown and her past when a true crime podcast chooses the murder of her best friend as the subject of his next series. And Lucy just happens to be the one everyone believes did it. She claims to not remember anything from the night of her best friend’s murder but being dragged back home might start bringing up memories she prefer remain hidden. I really had a good time with this book. It’s a fun, fast murder mystery with really good pacing and an interesting cast of characters. I’ve historically liked novels with podcasting as part of the plot, and this was no exception. So if you enjoy that kind of plot device, then this will also be so up your alley. I needed something to drag me out of my reading slump and this did it!

This review will post on my Instagram- @boozehoundbookclub

This was a classic mystery trope where the MC has suffered from amnesia after a murder and everyone thinks she did it, but no one really knows. In this case, the MC returns to her small Texas hometown for her grandma's birthday only to discover that the podcaster who is out to get the truth about the unsolved five-year-old murder is in town conducting interviews. They meet. They talk. They investigate. They discover.